Medical Products Manufacturing in India

Getting ready for growth

Soon India will be able to demonstrate its capabilities as an alternate manufacturing destination to China for many medical products.

What made you choose India to build your medical equipment park over other Asian countries?

India, over the last five years, has been growing in the areas of Electronic Component manufacturing, Mechanical Fabrication, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Information Technology. These industries, in one way or the other, provide inputs to medical product manufacturing. As a result, India today is an attractive low cost destination for Medical Technology manufacturing. Soon India will be able to demonstrate its capabilities as an alternate manufacturing destination to China for many medical products. Taking this trend into consideration, Trivitron is in the process of building its first medical technology park in India. In its first phase, this park will be able to manufacture medical technology products cost-effectively to cater to the fast growing Indian medical technology market and also to several emerging markets across the globe.

What is driving the growth of Indian medical devices market?

Access to healthcare is improving in India because of the rapid growth of private healthcare providers and an increase in expenditure by the central and state governments on the provision of healthcare. Privatisation of insurance sector has opened avenues for several private healthcare insurance companies. These are the two major factors driving the growth of Indian medical device market.

Do you think the medical device industry in India is adequately regulated?

Indian medical device industry has not been regulated appropriately as of now. However, the Government of India is has taken an initiative to regulate the market through the formation of the Central Drug Authority on the lines of the USFDA.

Advanced medical technologies have a higher cost. In what way will hospitals benefit in such a scenario?

Since advanced medical technologies are unaffordable for a major segment of the population in India, there is an urgent need for indigenisation wherever possible. This will make these technologies affordable to all segments of the population.

What scenario do you envision for the Indian medical equipment Industry in the future?

Indian Medical Equipment industry has a bright future in India with most of the segments experiencing Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 15-20 per cent.

What role can India play in the global medical equipment market considering its low cost advantage?

India has an abundant talent pool in the areas of medicine, engineering and information technology. This, combined with infrastructure and labour arbitrage, will make India a preferred destination for Medical Equipment manufacturing for many global companies. India has always been a preferred destination for the low-volume, high-mix category of manufacturing. With its English-speaking labour force and academic excellence in the areas of medicine, engineering, information technology, India can be a very good value proposition for top multi-national companies to manufacture their medical technology products for global requirements from India.

Will mergers and acquisitions help the growth of Indian medical equipment industry?

There are several small size Indian companies with long presence and technical expertise. Trivitron is looking at mergers and acquisitions as an option to consolidate Medical Technology industry in the country.

Will the low cost of manufacturing in India translate into lower healthcare costs?

Low cost manufacturing should definitely translate into lower healthcare delivery cost in India in the next 5-10 years time.